Third POV

While Bell and Evan were walking towards the dungeon, Evan can't help but notice Bell is drifting off in his own thoughts while walking alongside with him.

"Something bothering you?" Asked Evan.

Evan's questions seem to snap Bell out of it.

"S-sorry, I was still thinking about what happened a few days back." Bell replies while embarrassed.

Evan nods.

"Understandable." Said Evan. 'Considering the unexpected visit from Loki and her familia, I don't blame him for thinking about it.'

~ Few Days Earlier ~

Both Bell and Zelnite are seen clashing blades with one another while the others are on the sideline watching.

*Cling*

*Clang*

"Excellent work there, Bell." Zelnite said with a smile. "You can take a rest now."

Bell tiredly drops his new dagger that was given by Hestia to the ground, soon followed by him dropping on his bottom.

"How *Pants* was it?" Asked Bell.

"Your footworks is getting much better than I thought throughout our clash and not only that, it seems like you are getting used to that dagger of yours." Answered Zelnite. "Of course, you're only using one dagger and not two like I am."

"Our next lesson would be trying to fight with two daggers. But that'll come when you're all rested up." Zelnite said with a smile.

Bell nods, picks his dagger, and tiredly stands up. He then walked towards the others who were watching his training.

"Let's see how much you have improved, Bell." Said Hestia.

Bell then sat down with his back exposed to Hestia. As Hestia updates the falna, Evan spoke to Bell.

"Well done, Bell." Evan said with a smile. "With how fast you're growing, you will probably be able to stand up on your own."

Bell smiles and nods at Evan's compliment. Then he turns to Signas and Owen to see that the former has a big smile on her face with a thumbs up while Owen just simply nods once. Seeing that Bell can't help but feel a bit proud.

"All done." Said Hestia.

The goddess then proceeds to write down the updated stats of Bell on a piece of paper and hands it to Bell and the others to see.

Bell Cranel

Alias: None

Lvl: 1

STR - E 464 - D 507

END - G 212 - G 242

DEX - D 593 - C 649

AGI - E 437 - E 491

MAG - I 0

Magic

None

Skills

Liaris Freese

Developmental Abilities

None

"Impressive." Evan said with a nod.

Bell held the paper with his mouth opened, shocked at his progress in a short amount of time. Then excitement began to well within Bell as what Evan said earlier might be true. However, such excitement was cut off when Owen said something that surprised everyone.

"Someone is coming."

"What do you me-" Hestia was cut off when another voice called out.

"So this is where you guys live." Said Loki as she observes the refurbished old church.

Behind Loki were three other people, Ais, Lefiya, and Tiona.

"What are you doing here, flat board?" Hissed Hestia.

"Flat board?! Why you…?!"

Loki stops herself and takes a deep breath before saying.

"I came here to personally thank him for saving one of my members."

Loki then approaches Evan before bowing to him.

"Thank you for saving my familia, Evan of Hestia Familia." Loki said sincerely.

Despite what had happened back then at the pub, Evan humbly waved off her thanks.

"No need to thank me, I'm just doing what many would do if they were in my place."

"Many, you say?" Loki asked with a smile. "Not many would suddenly run at fast speed and jump in to save a maiden in distress like a knight in shining armor." Loki finishes with a bigger smile.

Lefiya in the back blushes a bit at her goddess's choice of words while Evan raises a brow.

'She saw that?' Evan said internally.

Loki took quick notice of Evan's reaction but said nothing.

"Strong."

Then both Loki and Evan's attention suddenly turns to Ais who was staring at Owen and Signas. With the former doing the same back at Ais. However, Owen simply turns around and walks back into the church.

'Oh…how interesting.' Loki thought.

"Don't mind him, he usually is like that all the time." Said Signas. "Say, what's all your names? I'm Signas, my friend here is Zelnite, and that old man is Owen."

"Ais."

"Tiona."

"Lefiya."

"Nice to meet you all." Said Signas.

As pleasantries are exchanged to one another, Ais then asks the question she was waiting for.

"Can I fight you?"

Everyone around was surprised by Ais's request.

"Oh? Fight me?" Signas asks. "Are you sure?"

Ais nods without hesitation.

"I see…" Signas hums.

After a moment of silence, Signas opened her mouth.

"Sorry, no can do." Signas said with an amused smile.

Ais seems to want to press on but holds herself back as Loki and Evan approach them.

"Seems like everyone is getting along." Said Loki.

Loki then turns to Signas.

"So…what's your relation with him?" She asks while pointing back at Evan. "Or rather what's all of your relations with him?"

"A friend." Said Signas.

"My partner." Answered Zelnite.

"What about the old man?" Asked Loki.

Before either Signas and Zelnite could answer, Evan was the one to answer.

"He could be considered to be one of my mentors."

"Is that so…" Loki said. "I assume it's related to your other familia member?"

Evan nods.

"Yes, they are here to train him by my request."

"I see…" Loki then turns to Zelnite and Signas. "Would you two like to join my familia?"

Her question surprised everyone once again and Ais's eyes shone a bit as she turned to the two people Loki asked. However, to her disappointment, Zelnite and Signas decline.

"Well that was worth a shot." Said Loki, not surprised by their decline. "I guess it's time we take our leave."

Loki then signals Tiona, Tiona seeing Loki signaling her, grabs something from behind her and then approaches Evan.

"Consider this a thank you gift for saving Lefiya." Said Loki as Tiona hands Evan a bag to which Evan presumes is filled with valis.

But much to his surprise, the bag didn't feel like valis. Loki then spoke.

"Make good use of these monster parts, be it selling them or turning them into something."

She then turns around.

"Let's get going now." Loki said to her familia. "See ya later."

As they disappear from view, Hestia then tug both Evan and Bell's attention to her.

"Bell and Evan," Hestia said in a serious tone. "Promise me that neither one of you will fall for her tricks in the future, okay?"

This sudden request surprises Bell but for Evan less so. When he thought about it, it's probably due to Hestia not wanting them to be snatched by Loki. It's unlikely to happen but Evan nods to Hestia nonetheless and promises to her.

~ Present ~

"We're here." Said Evan as he looked at the dungeon entrance. "Looking forward to trying out these weapons that Hestia got us?"

Bell nods.

"Right then, let's see if we can break our current record." Said Evan.

~ Small Time-skip ~

Bell is seen running while being chased by a group of giant ants. As he is being chased, Bell leads them around the corner to an open area where suddenly many arrows flew past by Bell, landing their mark on the ants, nearly killing all the ants. Bell then quickly turns around drawing out the knife given by Hestia and swiftly taking out an ant nearest to him. Another ant tries to attack him but Bell dodges to the side and with a slash of the knife, dismembering two of the ant's legs from its side causing it to lose balance. Bell quickly capitalizes this and with a swift downward slash on the ant's neck, he decapitates the ant. With the ant dead, Bell scans around to see any more ants alive but only sees the dead and dying ants.

"Nicely done." Said Evan as he appeared from behind with a bow in hand. "Seems like you'll be able to handle yourself sooner than I thought."

"No thanks to you and everyone who helped me." Bell responses with a smile.

Bell then realized what Evan said.

"Wait, what do you mean to handle myself?" Asked Bell.

"Well, you know that sooner or later you will have to go to the dungeon by yourself when I am not available." Answered Evan.

"I see…" Bell said with a nod.

"Now then, let's harvest these ants." Said Evan as he put away his bow.

Bell nods and proceeds to help Evan.

~ Small Time-skip ~

"I see….so you both went to the seventh floor." Said Eina as she checked out something on a paper. "You can give me the bag of magic stones and any monster parts."

Evan gives the bag to Eina and she says.

"I'll be back in a bit with your valis."

As she leaves the receptionist desk and out of view of Bell and Evan, Evan then asks Bell something.

"Hey Bell, want to go to the smiths to check them out and see if any fit your fancy after Eina returns with our valis?"

Bell was surprised at Evan.

"W-what do you mean?"

"I'm sure you know what I mean." Said Evan. "I mean look at yourself, your current outfit is not gonna be any good anymore as we advance down deeper in the dungeon."

Bell slowly nods as he realizes that Evan does have a point.

"Yes, indeed you'll need a change to face the deeper level of the dungeon." Said Eina as she walks back to the duo with their valis in hand.

Eina then hands the bag of valis to Evan.

"Say, are you two free tomorrow?"

"Well, we have no plans for tomorrow, so we should be. What about it?" Asked Evan.

Eina hums.

~ Tomorrow ~

Both Bell and Evan are seen walking through a bustling street near at Babel

'She said she would be he- oh, there she is.' Evan said to himself.

"Morning Eina!" Said Bell.

"Seems like you got here first." Said Evan.

"Morning you two." Said Eina.

As the three got together, Eina waves Evan and Bell to follow her.

"So, where are we going?" Asked Bell.

"Well, we are going to the dungeon or rather precisely Babel." Answered Eina.

'Babel, huh.' Thought Evan.

"W-w-wait, I thought Babel is only a place that has public facilities and other kinds of room for adventurers and staff members like you!" Exclaimed Bell.

Eina chuckles a little.

"The guild owns a part of Babel but not all of it. Those parts of Babel not owned by the guild are owned by familias that are focused on commercial things like Hephaestus familia for example." Explained Eina.

Upon hearing that familiar name, both Bell and Evan remember the weapons given to them by Hestia were forged by this familia.

"I assume that we are going to the shops owned by the Hephaestus familia for Bell?" Asked Evan.

Eina nods in confirmation.

"I see, then lead the way." Said Evan.

As the trio walks towards Babel, Evan notices that Bell seems to be walking slower while looking in another direction. Evan slows his pace and turns his eye towards the direction where Bell was looking. There was a small girl with a huge bag on her back walking by. Taking note of it, Evan then spoke to Bell.

"Let's keep up the pace with Eina." Said Evan.

"Ah, sorry." Said Bell as he hurries up to Evan and Eina.

~ Quick Skip ~

"Here we are." Said Eina. "The fourth floor here is where the Hephaestus familia sells their goods."

Bell had a look of awe as he stared at the weapons and armor on display.

"Is this the only floor the Hephaestus familia is in?" Evan asks.

"No, aside from this floor, the Hephaestus familia goes up to the eighth floor of Babel." Answered Eina.

"The floor I want to shop from is just upstairs but seeing how excited Bell is, let's take a look here first." Said Eina as both her and Evan turn their attention back to Bell who is gazing closer to the displayed goods.

But a familiar voice rang out to them, even Bell turned his head at the familiar voice.

"Good Morning! How can I serve you all today?"

The trio sees Hestia in front of them in an outfit.

"Hestia?! What are you doing here?!" Exclaimed Bell.

Hestia froze at the sight of the trio and then looked away frantically embarrassed.

"Are you doing some kind of work?" Asked Evan.

Hestia did not answer, but that was all that was needed to confirm his question.

"Hestia, why are you working? We should still have some extra money back at the church." Said Bell.

Before Hestia could say anything, a loud voice called out to her, telling her to get back to work. To which Hestia quickly ran away from the trio to do whatever her works demanded of her. After an awkward moment of silence, Eina spoke.

"Let's head upstairs."

Both Bell and Evan nod at her and proceed to follow her. As they arrived at their destination, Evan then said.

"You two can go on ahead of me, I'm going to check out the other stuff here."

"Alright then, be sure to meet us back at the first floor okay." Said Eina.

Evan nods and proceeds to explore as the other two parts away from him. As Evan wonders about, examining all kinds of work shown. Then a thought crossed his mind as he examined a set of armor.

'Maybe I should put both my crafting and synthesis skills to use and sell the things I make…'

However, Evan shook off such a thought as he realized the required supplies and materials needed for such endeavor. Sure, he can use his own acquired materials and perhaps find substitutes as well. But there are still other factors out there that could bring trouble to him and the others. As he ponders, Evan then walks towards and up the stairs to the next floor. Upon roaming around a bit more, Evan notices that the products shown in this floor seem more extravagant and expensive than the last two floors. Evan assumes that this floor is where the more experienced smiths drop their works in. He guess it also applies to the last floor the Hephaestus Familia owns above him where the best works are at. As Evan continued to observe, he heard a voice from behind.

"Like what you see?"

Evan turns around to see a brown skin woman with red eyes, black hair, and an eyepatch looking at him with a grin.

"They all are fine works." Evan replied.

The woman nods at his answer and then introduces herself.

"I'm Tsubaki, captain of Hephaestus Familia."

Evan's face turns to that of surprise, but he quickly composes himself and introduces himself as well.

"I'm Evan of Hestia Familia."

Upon hearing his familia, Tsubaki's eyes widened with recognition.

"Oh! You're from her familia! Good to know that my Goddess's friend has a familia and is doing well." Said Tsubaki.

"Wait, both Hestia and Hephaestus are friends with one another?" Asked Evan.

"Yep, they go way back." Answered Tsubaki.

"I see…" Evan said while nodding. "Then what brings you here then?"

"Oh, me? I'm just here casually observing my fellow smith's works." Said Tsubaki.

As the two talk on with one another, Tsubaki then takes notice of Evan's sword. She then asks.

"That sword of yours. May I take a look at it?"

Evan looks at her confused but nods at her request and gives her his sword. When given the sword Tsubaki's eye widened a little as she held the sword but she quickly recomposed herself. Tsubaki then slightly drew the sword out of its sheath and looked at it with scrutiny. After a bit, she nods with satisfaction, pushes the blade back into the sheath, and gives the sword back to Evan.

"How long did you have that sword?" Asked Tsubaki.

"I had it for some time before coming here to Orario." Answered Evan.

"I see…Whoever created that sword of yours must be a great craftsman. Not only is the sword well done but it's a magical one as well." Said Tsubaki.

Evan was surprised by Tsubaki's deduction. But then again considering that she is captain of Hephaestus's Familia, it is kind of expected that she would be able to notice.

"Say…does the name Crozzo ring a bell for ya?" Asked Tsubaki.

Evan had a look of confusion and shakes his head.

"I see…" Hums Tsubaki.

After a few more friendly exchanges with one another, Evan bids Tsubaki farewell as he walks towards the stairs. As Evan descends down the stairs and from view, Tsubaki then looks down on her hands and recalls the feeling when she took hold of that magical sword. She knew of growth type weapons but the sword that Evan owns was something else.

'I wonder…what were you doing before you came here to Orario?' Thought Tsubaki as she looked back towards the stairs Evan had descended through.

As Evan reaches the first floor, he sees that both Eina and Bell were waiting for him near the entrance.

"Evan! You're here." Said Bell. "I've got what I wanted here."

Bell pats the bag hanging from his side.

"I look forward to seeing how you look." Evan said with a nod and smile.

~ Small Time-skip ~

After escorting Eina back to her home, Evan and Bell proceed to return back to their residence. As they were walking back to the church, they quickly realized how late it was with the sun setting down. Evan then notices that Bell seems to be lost in thoughts. Before he could ask Bell, as they turn the corner, someone small slams into Bell.

"Oof."

"Ow."

The two fall to the ground and as Bell regains himself, both him and Evan quickly note that the one who ran into Bell was a Girl Pallum with a chestnut hair color.

"Are you okay?" Bell asks the Pallum.

After asking his question, a man's rage-filled voice yells out, drawing their attention to him and they see an Adventurer.

"There you are! You little piece of shit!."

Both Bell and Evan immediately took notice of how the Pallum Girl was visibly shaking with fear. Evan's eyes furrow as he and Bell observe the ongoing situation.

"You're gonna pay for what you did!" Yelled the Adventurer as he drew out his big sword from his back.

Seeing what the man was gonna do, the Pallum Girl quickly closes her eyes. Then something that she didn't expect to happen as she hears the angry man's voice lace with confusion.

"W-what the hell are you two doing!?"

The Pallum Girl slowly opens her eyes to an unexpected sight of Bell and Evan standing protectively in front of her. Bell with his knife drawn and Evan with one hand on the hilt of his sword ready to draw. Evan then calmly asks the man.

"I ask you to put away your weapon, Sir."

"Why the hell should I do that!?" The Adventurer angrily retorted. "You two her friends or something?!"

Evan shook his head.

"Then get out of my way!" Yelled the Adventurer.

Evan shakes his head once more. He turns to Bell and says.

"Bell, stay here."

Bell looks at Evan and then nods. Evan took a step forward, the Adventurer suddenly felt uneasy and unknowingly took a step back.

"I'll ask once more, put your sword away." Evan said calmly.

"T-to hell with you!" Yelled the Adventurer.

He then attacks Evan with his sword. Evan internally sighs and before the man's attack hits Evan, he suddenly froze in place, dropping his weapon. The man was sweating a lot with widened eyes before yelling out.

"M-m-monster!"

He then turns around and runs away like his life depended on it.

'Well that's done.' Evan said internally.

Evan then turns back to Bell who watches on with confusion at what just happened.

"How is she?" Evan asks.

His question snaps Bell out of his stupor.

"Oh, she's-"

Bell's words were cut short as the girl was gone.

'She must've ran away when Bell wasn't looking.' Thought Evan. "Seems like she's gone now, let's hurry back to Hestia before she throws a tantrum about us coming home late."

Bell nods and quickly follows after Evan as they walk back to the church. Unknownst to them, a certain elf watched the entire situation from beginning to end with Evan earning a slight interest from her.

~ The Next Day ~

Evan and his summons are seen taking a good look at Bell who is in his new armor. Aside from the green protector standing out from the rest of the armor, Bell seems like he is suited up for the deeper layers of the dungeon. With a satisfied nod, Evan then asks.

"Are you ready?"

Bell nods with enthusiasm.

"Then let's get going. Tell Hestia, we'll be back soon." Said Evan.

Bell and Evan then exits the church and heads toward Babel. As they walk through the street of Orario casually talking with one another, they both stop when someone calls out to them from behind.

"Hello you two!"

The duo turns around to see a familiar girl.

"Nice to meet you two." The Girl said with a smile as she walked over to the duo.

"Nice to meet you too." Said Bell as Evan nods at her.

"This may be sudden but are you two in need of a supporter?" Asked the Girl.

"Supporter…? Ummm…"

Bell wasn't sure what to say and turned his gaze at Evan. Evan, noticing Bell's unsure look, then spoke to the supporter.

"I'm sure we are fine but why the sudden offer?" Evan asks.

"Quite simple honestly." The Supporter replied. "Just a supporter selling her service to adventurers like you two."

Evan glanced at Bell who did the same back to Evan before Evan turned his attention back at the supporter.

'Well it wouldn't hurt to have her around.' Thought Evan. 'As Tilith would say, the more the merrier.'

"Sure, you can come with us." Said Evan.

The girl brightens at Evan's answer.

"Thank you very much!"

Evan simply nods before saying.

"But before that, let's introduce ourselves."

~ Small Time-skip ~

"I see…but why us?" Asked Bell. "Shouldn't you be with people from your familia?"

The supporter now known as Liliruca Arde smiles self-deprecatingly at Bell's question.

"Well you see…Lili is weak and no one in my familia wants someone like me around them…"

Lili proceeds to tell Bell and Evan about her familia and what goes around within the familia involving her. Evan had a brow raised, while Bell was shocked at her explanation, thinking to himself that how could any familia could do this. As for Evan, he was glad to have accepted Lili to his party so that she could support herself but an itching feeling fell upon him and he wasn't sure why. But Evan quickly shoves such feelings aside for the time being. Bell then changes the subject and asks an important question.

"I've been wondering, haven't we met before?"

"What do you mean?" Lili asks back. "Lili is a stranger to you two."

Evan and Bell look back at each other before turning back to Lili.

"Sorry for asking for this but…can you take off your hood?" Requested Bell.

Lili was quiet for a moment and not looking at the duo but she nodded and slowly took off her hood, revealing a pair of fluffy dog ears. This greatly surprised the duo while Lili is looking away from the duo's gaze at her additional features.

"You're a Chienthrope….?" Bell mutters in disbelief.

Bell then stands up and while in shock touches her ears. Evan snaps out after seeing what Bell was doing and places his hand on Bell's shoulder. In doing so, Bell also snaps out of his shock and quickly apologizes to Lili.

"It's okay…" Lili said quietly. "So…what will you two do now? Will you two still hire Lili?"

Evan simply nods.

"Yes, haven't we agreed to have you around earlier?" Said Evan.

Lili then thanks Evan and Bell before discussing how they will divide their earnings. After coming with an agreement, the trio then proceeds to the dungeon.

~ Dungeon - Floor 7 ~

There were some killer ants wandering together trying to find food for their colony unaware and suddenly Bell appears out of nowhere.

*Slash* *Slash*

Bell takes down two killer ants in succession. Before the other remaining ants can react, Bell swiftly dispatches them with well aimed strikes.

"Wow! Mister Bell, you're very strong!" Said Lili as Bell wipes bug juice from his knife.

"No, I'm only this strong thanks to Evan and my mentors." Bell said humbly. "Besides I'm still far away from reaching the likes of them."

"Is that so…" Lili said quietly as she took a glance at Evan who was taking out the magic core from a deceased ant.

Although she hasn't seen Evan in action in the dungeon yet, the vivid memory from yesterday was still there, even though it was glimpses that she saw as she ran away. She then asks.

"Mister Bell, how strong is Mister Evan?"

Bell turns his gaze to Evan and says.

"Have you heard of the incident that involved a Loki Familia member getting in a fight and losing."

Lili nods and then the sudden realization comes to her.

"Wait?! So you're saying that Mister Evan was the one who bested a level 5 adventurer from Loki's Familia!?"

Bell nods in confirmation.

"Then….can you please explain to Lili why he fought?" Asked Lili. "From what I've heard is that it was a confrontation that became a fight."

"I don't really know the details because I ran away that day but all you have to know is that it involves me." Said Bell.

"You…Mister Bell?" Lili asks while tilting her head.

Bell nods and proceeds to tell her what happened that day and the following when he heard about it. After his explanation, Lili can't help but say what she felt about it.

"I'm…quite envious of you, Mister Bell…"

Bell looks at her a bit surprised.

"Why is that?" He asks.

"I'm envious because you have someone like that willing to go out their way to help you…unlike Lili." Answered Lili although the last part was barely heard.

Bell has no idea what to say after hearing what she said but before he could say anything else, Lili changes topics.

"I must say, that knife of yours is something." Said Lili.

"Ah…this." Said Bell as he pats the sheathed knife from his waist.

"Say…how did you obtain such a good blade, Mister Bell?" Asked Lili.

"Well..it's a gift from my goddess." Answered Bell. "She managed to convince one of her friends to make it for us."

"I see…" Said Lili. "Wait…us? Does Mister Evan have one as well?"

Bell nods.

"He does but he didn't bring it with him today." Said Bell. "His is like mine but it's a sword unlike mine as you see."

Lili simply nods and resumes her work on the dead ants alongside with Bell. After working on the dead monsters, both Bell and Lili were called out by Evan to take a break with him before their departure back to the surface. While resting, Evan took out some dried meat, bread, and two waterskins for the group.

"How are you holding up, Lili?" Asked Evan as he hands her a waterskin, "Lili is doing okay thanks to you two." Lili answered Cheerfully.

"Good to know." Said Evan.

Before Evan turns around, Lili then asks.

"Ummm, Mister Evan, I'm just wondering do you have any seasonings? Lili doesn't like this bland taste."

Evan looks at Lili with a little surprise. Seeing his stare, Lili starts to panic a bit and is about to apologize but Evan quickly shuts that down, stating that he was just surprised and says that he does have some seasonings before going through his bag for some seasonings he has. While doing so, both Bell and Lili seem to start chatting with one another again about his knife. As Evan rummages through his bag and finds a couple of small bags of seasoning, and as he pulls them out, a silver like hair clip with an emerald gem at its base falls out to the ground. Evan took notice of it and proceeded to pick it up after setting down the seasonings. Lili's attention seems to drift to Evan's hand after noticing it and seeing her attention elsewhere, Bell also turns to where she was looking and sees the hair clip in Evan's hand.

"Mister Evan, what are you holding?" Lili asks as she steps closer to observe the hair clip.

"Oh this…This belongs to a friend of mine." Answered Evan. "However she ends up giving this to me for my trouble involving this hair clip. For some reason, she also ends up naming it as well."

"What was the name that she gave it?" Bell asks.

"Réparatrice." Said Evan.

Both Bell and Lili blink at the strange name but simply shrug it off before resuming eating, however Lili's eyes on the hair clip lingers a bit longer turning elsewhere. Evan set the hair clip alongside his bag and sat next to Bell. Evan then turns to Bell.

"Your fight earlier, I am seeing that you are imitating Zelnite's fighting style, a bit of his footing, and incorporating it in your kind of style." Said Evan. "If Zelnite was here, he would be ecstatic that you are taking inspiration from him." Evan finishes with a smile while visibly seeing Zelnite making his great thief pose in his mind.

Bell said nothing while embarrassedly scratching the back of his head with a smile of his own. After a bit of chatting about various subjects with Bell and Lili, Evan stands up and informs them that it's time to pack and go back up. While packing up Lili strikes up another conversation with Bell, as those two chat with one another, Evan who was putting everything back into his bag notices something wrong.

'I don't remember placing down the hair clip like this…' Thought Evan as he stares at the silver accessory that seems to be out of place. 'Must've been knocked out of place by my bag…' However, even this answer that Evan came up with still left him unsure.

Evan was then knocked out of his thoughts as Bell calls out to him. Evan shoves his thoughts and feelings back to the corner of his mind and puts the hair clip back into his bag.

~ Short Time-skip ~

After reaching the surface, Lili bids farewell to Evan and Bell after reluctantly receiving her payment, despite her declining to receive any payment but the duo insisted and managed to convince her on it. As she left, the duo went to Eina to gather more information about the Soma Familia and from what she told them, Bell was a bit unsettled while Evan was solemn but one thing was for sure, they could understand Lili's circumstance a bit more now. With that done, Evan thanks Eina for the help and both him and Bell start to go back to the church until Eina says something that halts the both of them.

"Bell? What happened to your knife?"

~ Somewhere ~

Lili calmly walks through an alleyway to a small street away from much of the vibrant street of Orario and in her hand was a certain missing knife. Lili continues her walk till she reaches an old building and proceeds to enter the building. As she comes in through, an old gnome notices her presence and recognizes her as she approaches him.

"Oh, it's you again." Said the Old Gnome.

"I want to sell this." Said Lili as she placed the knife in front of the gnome.

The Old Gnome nods and takes the knife.

"Seems like you brought something unusual again, I see…" Said the Old Gnome as he inspected the knife. "I'll be back in a bit." The Old Gnome then walks away from sight with the knife in hand for further inspection.

After waiting for a bit, Lili sees the Old Gnome walking back into view before placing the knife back in front of her.

"Sorry to say this but the blade is practically dead." Said the Old Gnome. "Can't seem to cut anything."

"W-what?! How?!" Exclaimed Lili as she quickly takes the knife into her hand and quickly examines it up and down.

"I can't really sell this to anyone who comes by but if you truly want to sell it, I'll give 30 valis." Said the Old Gnome.

"I'll come back soon…!" Said Lili as she hastily runs out of the building.

The Old Gnome nods and hums at the same time at her.

"I look forward to our next meeting again."

As Lili walks on, she internally curses to herself as she stares back at the knife once. How could this happen to her, she clearly remembers how easily the knife carved through those monsters. The Old Gnome told her that the blade was dead and so she placed the blade of the knife to her palm and to her shock, the blade was indeed dead. She then internally curses more as her thoughts then suddenly drift to a certain silver hair clip. She should've taken it rather than backing out after feeling something nerve racking coming off from the silver accessory after touching it. At least perhaps she would've gotten something out of this. As Lili nearly walks out the alleyway into the street, she then spots two others, an elf and human chatting with one another. Lili swiftly puts away the knife into her sleeve and proceeds to walk past the duo but she is suddenly stopped by an overwhelming pressure and cold tone coming from the elf.

"Stop right there."

~ Elsewhere ~

After hearing about the missing knife both Evan and Bell hastefully trace their steps back to see if the knife dropped along the way back to the guild. But after some time of searching with no results, Evan then ordered Bell to return back to the church while he continued the search. Bell was very reluctant to do so but Evan convinces Bell by telling him that once he returns to the church and tells Zelnite of their current predicament both him and Zelnite can continue the search with him. Bell reluctantly nodded in understanding and ran towards the direction of the church to inform Zelnite. But what he doesn't know is that Zelnite is already on the search. As Bell disappears from Evan's sight, Evan then goes into an alleyway and after making sure that no one was around, two glowing lights appear from behind Evan, one yellow and the other red. Once the two lights faded away, there stood two figures. Without any moment to waste, they both immediately went separate directions.

'Hopefully with Fizz and Leon, the knife could be found before Bell reaches the church….' Evan said internally.

With that said, Evan continues his search. As he walked past an alleyway, he heard something coming from it and out of curiosity, he took a step back and took a look at the alleyway. To his surprise, he sees a small familiar figure running out of the alley before tripping in front of him.

"Lili?"

Upon hearing his familiar voice, Lili takes a glance to see Evan standing before her.

"M-mister Evan?"

Evan kneels down and gently helps Lili back up to her feet before asking her.

"What happened to you?"

Before Lili could answer, another familiar figure came out of the alleyway.

"Where did that pallum go?"

Evan recognizes the figure being Ryuu of the Hostess of Fertility. However, he also took notice how Lili quickly hid behind Evan in fear. Ryuu then sees Evan standing before her confused but her eyes drift towards Lili who was behind Evan trembling a bit.

"Mister Evan, please step aside." Said Ryuu.

Evan blinks in confusion at Ryuu and then glances down on Lili, slowly connecting the dots.

'Did Lili somehow offend Ryuu for some reason?' Thought Evan.

Seeing that Evan wasn't moving, Ryuu internally sighs with a composed face and then steps forward. She then pushes Evan to the side...No, rather she tried to push him to the side. Evan was not even budging once, Ryuu applied more force but to no effect. Evan stood there awkwardly scratching the back of his head. Evan casually placed his hand on Ryuu's hand and brought it down. His unexpected action caused Ryuu's eye to widen a bit before quickly recomposing back to its calm look. Not realizing what he had done, Evan spoke.

"I don't really know what happened between you two but I believe there is no need to escalate this further." Evan turns his head at Lili and then back to Ryuu. "So, care to explain?"

"This pallum has something that wasn't supposed to be in her possession." Ryuu said straight to the point.

"But Lili here is not a pallum though." Said Evan. "Surely you must've mistaken her for someone else."

Ryuu then stares at Lili who slowly takes off her hood to reveal her two dog ears. After a moment of silence, Ryuu apologizes to Lili for mistaking her as someone else. That was when Syr appeared from the alleyway, frantically yelling at Ryuu. Syr notices Evan and greets him with Evan doing the same. After their greeting, Ryuu then takes out a familiar knife.

"Is this Bell's knife?" Asks Ryuu as she holds out the black knife.

Evan's eyes widened in surprise that the knife was with Ryuu before nodding. Ryuu hands Evan the knife and once more apologizes to Lili. Ryuu and Syr then bid farewell to Evan and left. Once those two were gone from view, Lili then asked who were those two. Evan explains who they were and what he knows about the pub they worked at. Then Evan drops a major bomb on Lili.

"Lili, I want you to be honest….did you steal the knife?"

Lili froze.

"I-I don't know what you are talking about, Mister Evan." Said Lili as she pulled her hood down more. "Of course, Lili didn't steal it…"

Evan internally sighs at her denial but doesn't blame her for doing what she was doing due to how "unique" her familia was.

"Lili look at me." Evan said gently.

Lili reluctantly looks up at Evan to see an understanding but yet disappointed face from the young man much to her confusion.

"Did you steal the knife?" Evan asks gently.

Lili weakly nods.

"Good to see that you're admitting fault." Said Evan. "You know you could've just asked for more payment, both Bell and I would've gladly given more, instead of stealing from us."

Lili was shocked by what Evan said, not believing that anyone could be this kind.

"You're not mad…?" Lili asks.

"A bit." Admitted Evan. "But mostly disappointed."

"I see…." Said Lili. "Then are you still willing to hire Lili even after this…?" Lili asks meekly.

"That depends on you if I'm being honest." Said Evan.

Evan then surprised her at what he said next.

"But knowing myself and Bell, we'll give you another chance."

Lili just stood there, shocked, and eyes wide open at the strangers whom she had little to no connection with willing to not only forgive her but also are willing to give her another chance. However, despite the apparent kindness shown to her, within her was a pessimistic feeling that Evan was lying to her, but that didn't erase the spark of hope that starts to appear within her. Evan, taking note of how low the sun is setting, said.

"It's going to be late, I'm going to head back."

But before he turns around Lili then asks.

"Then how did you find out that it was me who stole it…?"

"I didn't at first, but once Bell and I traced our track back, I grew a suspicion that it was you once I had connected the dots back from the dungeon to the surface." Answered Evan. "I don't know why you chose to steal, but I won't ask because everyone has their own circumstances, be it good or bad."

"Well…see you tomorrow, maybe." Said Evan.

Evan then walks away from Lili, leaving her alone to her own thoughts. Along the way back, Evan withdrew Fizz, Leon, and Zelnite. As he walks along the street back to the church, Evan bumps into Bell who seems to be in a panic about not finding Zelnite back at the church. Evan chuckles a bit at seeing his white hair friend's exaggerated face when he showed the knife to him. Evan then told him how he found the "lost" knife, leaving out that it was Lili who was the main reason why it was "lost".

"I'll thank Ryuu for finding the knife!" Bell said with a smile.

Evan nods and the two proceed to head back to the church.

~ Unknown ~

Evan opens his eyes to see himself in an unfamiliar place. Evan steadily stood up to check his surroundings. After a bit, he realized that he's in the dungeon, on what floor he doesn't know. Evan cautiously trends through the halls of the dungeon. As he continues, a terrible smell…no, a couple smells reaches his nose. His body tenses up as he recognizes metallic odor among those smells. Evan went to draw his sword, but felt nothing and the realization fell upon him.

'Right…I must be in some kind of dream.' Thought Evan. 'Is it really a dream though?' Said another thought.

With stride, Evan pushes towards the smells as it becomes stronger and stronger. When Evan turns the corner to an open field, his eyes widen at the scene before him. The scenery before was all in many stains of red and black, with the corpse of many be it monsters or adventurers, body parts, innards strewn about left and right. Evan pushes onward despite the grim scene before him and sees a dried bloodied sword on the ground. Evan bends down and picks up the sword before moving. As he continues to look around, he sees the trail of red and black leads towards another entrance. Evan solemnly stared over there and began walking towards that direction. As he got closer to the entrance, what he heard coming from it caused him to stop. The sound of whimpering and crying was heard echoing from the entrance. Evan steeled himself and pushed onward to the sound. With each step closer to the sound, the more the sound became even clearer. Evan slows his walk as he sees the source of the sound. A young female elf in white with black hair was just there sitting staring blankly. Around her were corpses of what Evan presumed to be members of her familia or at least what's left of them. The elf didn't even register his presence as he approached her. Evan upon seeing her face frowns, she is broken, lost in despair at whatever had happened here. Evan is capable of many things but comforting was not one of them. He wasn't sure what to do, but he knew he had to do something. Evan puts away the bloodied sword and despite his ineptness in this kind of situation, Evan gently wraps his arm around and underneath the legs of the elf. He gently lifts her up princess style. However, the elf showed no reaction to his action aside from her body trembling slightly as she blankly stared. Evan wasn't sure where to go but he knew that he gotta move away from this tragic scene around him. With the elf in his arm, Evan began moving away from tragedy behind him.

~ Somewhere ~

Evan wasn't sure how long he'd been walking but when he looked down at the black hair elf, he noticed that she was holding onto him now but was also asleep. Since when did she move or fell asleep, he did not know but he left his contemplation in the back of his mind. Evan found an open field like room and decided to settle down. When he found a spot to set down the elf, he found himself being tugged down with her, and felt her grips on him tightened as if he was a lifeline for her. With no choice, Evan sat down with the elf still in his arm and his back laid to a wall. Evan finally took a good look at the sleeping elf and but the longer he looked at her the more something felt off about her. But that feeling was dashed when the elf began trembling once more and muttering apologies with tears dripping from her closed eyes. Evan pulls the crying elf closer to his chest to comfort her in whatever he can. After a bit, the elf calms down, aside from a couple of sniffles heard from her. Evan was still on alert for anything even if this is a "dream" but he was feeling the drowsiness falling upon him. After a while of trying to stay awake, Evan's eyes start to close. As his eyes closed, Evan swore he saw Kranus standing at the edge of his closing sights.

~ Waking World ~

Evan opened his eyes once more to see a familiar ceiling and realized that it was still nighttime.

"So…it was a dream…" Evan muttered to himself.

Evan turns his head towards the window and silently stares out.

'Seems like I gotta investigate this matter…' Thought Evan as he thinks back to what he saw in that "dream". 'I wonder…who was that elf that I saw…'

Evan closes his eyes once more, lulling himself back to sleep.

~ Morning ~

"This time you're going alone." Evan said to Bell while packing essentials for Bell's use.

"W-what? Now?!" Exclaimed Bell.

Evan nods.

"I would've still gone with you but I got something else I need to do today." Replied Evan. "Oh, yeah, before I forget, take this." Evan hands Bell a small stone idol resembling an angel. "Consider it as a good luck charm." Said Evan.

Bell looks at the angel idol, looks back at Evan before nodding smile and storing the idol into his own bag. The two bid each other goodbye.

"Be sure to come back not too late." Said Evan. "Sure thing!" Replied Bell before he ran off to Babel.

After seeing Bell run off to the dungeon, Evan turns and begins walking towards the guild. Once reaching the guild and entering it, Evan was greeted by a receptionist.

"Welcome, how can I help you?"

"Hi, I was wondering if you can bring my advisor Eina out as I have a question for her." Said Evan.

"Sure thing, Mister." Replied the Receptionist before she left the front to retrieve Eina.

After waiting for a bit, Evan sees the receptionist and Eina coming from the back.

"Good morning, Evan" Greeted Eina. "I heard that you have a question for me."

"I do." Evan said with a nod.

"So what is it that you need to know about?" Asked Eina.

"Do you know anything about an elf with black hair and red eyes?"

Upon hearing his question, Eina's eyes widened with a shocked face. She wasn't the only one with a shocked face and widened eyes as those nearby nearly also have the same reaction to his question. Eina quickly recomposes herself and with a serious face answers Evan's question.

"There is an elf of your description, Evan." Said Eina. "Her name is Filvis Challia, Captain of Dionysus Familia, the Banshee, and one of the few survivors of the Nightmare of the 27th Floor."

'Banshee? Survivor…?' Evan said internally as his mind thinks back to the dream he had but he had another question to ask. "What is the Nightmare of the 27th Floor?"

Eina goes into detail about the tragedy that happened six years ago. Explaining that Evilus, a group of radical mortals and gods that were set on sowing chaos, were the main cause of the Nightmare of the 27th Floor.

"I see…" Said Evan as he digested the information given to him. "I have a request."

"Ask away." Said Eina.

Evan nodded and what he said shocked everyone present in the room.

"I would like to request to party with Filvis Challia for a run in the dungeon."

Eina's eyes blink a couple times before saying in a serious tone.

"Are you sure?"

Evan nods with a serious face. After a couple seconds of staring at Evan's serious face, Eina then sighs.

"Very well, I'll file your request to the Dionysus Familia." Said Eina. "Come back here tomorrow morning and I'll tell you if they accept your request."

Evan nods.

"Any more questions?"

Evan was about to ask something but stops himself and shakes his head. Evan then bids farewell to Eina before exiting out of the guild, as Evan begins walking back to the church thinking about the information he had learned, but despite his questions being answered, it only led to more questions.

'Why did Kranus show me the Nightmare of the 27th Floor in that dream…' Thought Evan. 'Moreover, the fact that it was shown to me tells me that there is more to it and most likely something big is going to happen in the future, probably involving that elf.'

Call him paranoid but he knew that whether Kranus, or S'eljah, or any other cosmic being is involved, he knew something bad is going to happen and he would be damned if he's not going to do something about it. After a short contemplation with himself, Evan made up his mind and decided to investigate this matter even further. Once he made it back to the church, two purple sigils appeared in front of Evan. And out came two men, the first was in an assassin attire with dark skin, yellow eyes, dark pink hair, and the second was in a similar attire like the first but had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a black tattoo on the left side of his face. Without a single word said, both vanish from sight.

'Hopefully Kuda and Zephyr would be able to find something from their investigation.' Thought Evan. 'While they do that, I'll try to find out why Filvis is important in this.'

With that finishing thought, Evan then enters the church to see that both Zelnite and Signas were chatting with one another, while Owen was just sitting on a chair with his arms crossed and eyes closed. And the black sword that Hestia gifted him was in view laying against the wall. Staring at the sword for a bit, Evan then thought to himself that this was a good opportunity to try out the sword. After taking off his armor, Evan went to pick up the sword and unsheathe it. The pure black of the blade then began glowing blue runic symbols across its blade before shimmering back to nothingness. With the sword in hand, Evan walks back outside and begins swinging the sword. After a couple of swings, Evan nods in satisfaction before continuing to swing more.

~ Evening ~

Time flew by quickly for Evan as he immersed himself in his training aside from the occasional break and synthesizing of potions. Evan lost track of time till he noticed the dimming sky and the lacking presence of a certain goddess.

'How strange…usually Hestia would be back by now if not much earlier.' Thought Evan.

It was then he saw Bell appearing in his view with a happy face. Bell sees Evan and quickly runs to him excitedly. Evan welcomes Bell back before being told by Bell how much he had made with Lili.

'I see…so she made her choice.' Evan Thought to himself when he heard her name.

Evan then sheaths his sword and usher Bell back in the church, asking him several questions before asking him if he's hungry. Bell shakes his head and says that he ate at Hostess Pub with Lili before coming back here. Evan nods and the two begin conversing again till they hear a knock on the door. Evan opens the door and sees something surprising. A man with long dark blue hair and eyes with a drunk Hestia in a cart behind him. It didn't take long for Evan to realize why Hestia was unusually gone for a good while. The man introduces himself as Miach, a god and owner of a potion shop named Blue Pharmacy alongside with his familia. After bringing Hestia inside Evan asks Bell to take Hestia and lay her to rest and apologizes and thanks Miach for Hestia. Miach waves it off humbly and after a couple minutes of small talk, Miach bids farewell. Evan then turns around to help Bell to take care of Hestia.

~ Next Day ~

As Evan gets ready to walk towards the guild, Bell tells Evan that he decided to take a break today to take care of Hestia. Evan nods and leaves the church. Once Evan gets to the guild and enters, his eyes widen slightly in surprise as he sees a familiar black hair elf standing nearby the receptionist desk with a blank expression on her face. And next to her was Eina who was reading some documents on the desk. Eina notices Evan at the entrance and waves him to come over. In doing so, the black hair elf, Filvis, notices that this human called Evan was the one that requested to party up with her. And as much as she wanted to decline the request at first when it was brought to her, Dionysus thought otherwise and told her that she should accept the request and that it would be a "fun" time for her. Eina then introduces both Evan and Filvis to one another.

"Nice to meet you, Filvis." Said Evan.

However, his courteous greeting was met with silence by Filvis as she stared at him for a bit.

"Likewise…" Said Filvis after a moment of silence. "I've heard that you requested to party with me." Said Filvis.

"Let's get this over with." Filvis said with a blank expression.

Filvis then turns around and heads towards the entrance of the dungeon, surprising Evan with her cold distance attitude, but he quickly recomposes himself and follows after her into the dungeon. Little did she know that at her end, one filled with despair, sorrow, and acceptance would be altered. An end filled with relief, joy, and happiness into someone who has lacked such things ever since her tragic rebirth.


Bonus

Training - 1

"That's it for today." Said Owen as he observed a tired Bell on the ground after his grueling training under Owen. "Get up."

"Yes sir…." Bell said tiredly as he got back up.

"You're up again, Signas." Said Owen as he sat back down on a tree stump.

"Alright, kid, get yourself cleaned up a bit and follow me."

~ A Little While After ~

"So why is this part of my training?" Asked Bell as he and Signas walked throughout Orario.

"Oh, you'll see." Signas replied with a big smirk.

Bell suddenly had a bad feeling about this. They continue their walk until Signas abruptly stops and looks around the surroundings.

"This place will do." Signas said with a nod and she turned around to face Bell.

"Run." She said with a big smirk.

"What…?" Said Bell.

Then a blade was swifty implanted in front of Bell, scaring him.

"Run." Stated Signas as the aura around her begins to become very menacing to Bell.

Without any hesitation, Bell ran for his dear life. And throughout Orario, people reported hearing multiple screams throughout the day. Some even reported seeing a white hair boy desperately running from a blue beast.

Monster of Man - 1

A lone man in a dark cloak walks through a ruin hall filled with cages and within those cages were all kinds of monsters. As the man walks on and the monsters that notice his presence either shrink away with fear or try to lash out at him.

"Yes, yes, I know I miss you all too." The man said with a smile.

He then approaches one of the cages. Within that cage was a lizard-like monster that hisses at the man's approach.

"How adorable." The Man said with an amused tone.

Then in an instant the lizard-like monster was held in place by a gigantic purple demonic hand that came out of nowhere. The man casually opens the cage and walks in. When he gets close to the monster, he pulls out a syringe of unknown substance from his cloak.

"This will hurt for just a moment." The Man said gently as he inserted the needle in and injected the monster.

The monster squirms as it feels the unknown substance enter its body and as it squirms the Man watches on waiting. The monster knew or rather it felt something about it was forcibly being changed as it felt new limbs, additional eyes, and so on continues to appear on it but despite all of that, it felt one thing above all of those. Power.

"Seems like this one is a success." The Man said with a satisfied face.

Then with a wave of his hand, the monster felt something else forcibly entering its mind and body. It felt its connection to the dungeon being forcibly replaced by the man's magic. A mark appears on its head as the monster's connection to the dungeon disappears and in place of that is absolute loyalty towards its new master. The demonic hand that held the lizard gently lifted up and the man said.

"You may join the others."

The lizard obeyed his order as it stood up and walked out of the cage into a dark hallway. The Man then hums to himself. This world was not the intended world that he desired to enter but nonetheless this world has many things to offer to him, especially this dungeon and the denizations of this world. For he is Shida, a dark magician, a researcher, and he would learn and do all he can in this world. Shida then turns around, exits the cage, and walks into the dark hallway to continue his twisted experiments. And this world would soon come to know of him, for the better or worse.


Hey, its been a long while. Sorry about it. I had to change much of my focus on my studies and other irl stuff and tried to invest some time into writing this chapter whether I can. Had plenty of writer's block and so on when writing this chapter but hey the good news is that I manage to get this chapter out. Another good news is that with some recent updates like arknights and so on kind of given me some motivation to invest some more time into writing for those crossover ff I had.

Now onto this chapter, I'll be honest I feel like rushed the story a bit in a sense for the timeline of both the normal story and sword oratoria but then again its just me feeling this, not sure about you readers. Secondly, about Filvis, I believe she deserved better despite her huge role and impact on Lefiya's character development. Despite Filvis/Ein's love for Dionysus, I already have a outline of how Evan will able to save her and yes I do have a outline on how Evan will slowly crawl into her heart unintentionally, bless the dense protagonist trope or curse it if you prefer that. Thirdly, I want you readers just know that some of those arc will happen in the story will happen in the background. The MC will get involved in much of them and others he will not.

Anyway with that out of the way. I hope you all have a nice day or a good night.